


Don’t Know How You Feel (But All I Want Is You)

by Sidere19



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Violet's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-08 20:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17392913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sidere19/pseuds/Sidere19
Summary: Falling in love during the apocalypse might not be the wisest thing to do. But then again, Violet wasn’t exactly the one who always made the wisest decisions.





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this a while back and thought I should post it before ep 3 comes out. Originally, I was only going for a super short one-shot, but somehow it spiralled into this 10k+ three-part thingy lol. Well, anyway hope you guys like it! x
> 
> Title taken from ‘Amused’ by Hunger.

* * *

 

 

This whole rescue mission was really stupid.

 

Sometimes, Violet honestly couldn’t understand Marlon. One second he was nagging on and on about shrinking down their already narrow safe zone further due to some ‘ _potential threats’_ , the next second there was a giant explosion and he was immediately calling a team to go out and investigate near the train station, which was undoubtedly located way beyond the said safe zone.

 

Okay, to be fair, Violet figured Marlon was probably just trying to be cautious and wanted to make sure whoever caused that explosion wasn’t a threat to the school. The fact that they found a girl and a small kid barely conscious in a totalled car that got flipped upside down was just a surprise to them all. So naturally, this pure investigation gig turned into a rescue mission in a matter of seconds, despite the fact that more and more walkers drawn by the loud noise were starting to close in on them, which was just a real nuisance.

 

And it wasn’t that Violet was some cold-hearted bitch that would just leave people there to die when she could’ve help them, it was just… inconvenient. She had already gone out fishing with Brody earlier that day and endured an irritating amount of awkward conversations and now she was out in the woods again, busy getting her cleaver out of a walker’s skull in time to bash it into another. So yeah, in her defence, it was more than well-justified that this whole situation kind of made her a bit grumpier than usual.

 

“Violet! Go get the girl out of the car! The gas is leaking! It might explode again!” Marlon yelled at her, and in a smooth motion, drew another arrow from his quiver and shot it into a hobbling walker’s head nearby with great precision.

 

Violet grunted quietly, booting the walker she just took down in the head before turning in Marlon’s direction to get a quick glance.

 

Things weren’t looking good. The guys managed to get the little kid out first through the broken car window, since it was a lot easier given his small size. Louis was carrying him while Marlon and Mitch were currently trying to clear a way back to the school in front of them.

 

“Go Violet, I’ll cover you!” Aasim called out, starting to move closer to her while shooting a few walkers on his way.

 

Violet sighed, turning back around and quickly running over to the driver’s side of the car. The window was already smashed during the crash, presumably. She crouched down to peer inside and froze for a second. Because the girl in the driver’s seat looked really young. A teenager, to be more precise, like her.

 

A sharp crack from somewhere inside the car snapped Violet out of her daze, signalling that she didn’t have much time to get this girl out before they both got blown into pieces.

 

“Shit.” Violet cursed under her breath, reaching over and trying to pull the girl out through the car window. However, something seemed to be hindering her efforts.

 

Frowning, Violet waved away the smoke from in front her face and inspected more closely to see what the problem was. And it didn’t even take her two seconds to realise that the girl was still secured by her seatbelt.

 

“God, fucking seatbelt…” Violet grumbled irritatingly and tried to think of a quick solution. The girl seemed completely knocked out from the accident with blood all over her face and there was not enough space for Violet to reach inside and release the seatbelt either. So with another heavy sigh, Violet drew out her cleaver again and started to cut the belt off, hoping the quality of that seatbelt wasn’t as great as it was probably advised.

 

“Yo Violet! Would you mind picking up your fucking pace?!” Mitch seethed through ragged breaths, having joined Aasim to fight off walkers a few feet away from her. “In case you didn’t notice, there are more and more walkers by the second!”

 

“Shut the fuck up, Mitch! I’m trying my best here!” Violet snapped back, starting to get extremely frustrated with this ridiculously durable belt. Funny sometimes the things that were supposed to protect you can also end up killing you, right?

 

“A… AJ…”

 

The sudden weak groan from the girl startled Violet a little. _AJ… was it that little boy’s name?_ Violet wondered, glancing at the young brunette who started to struggle in her seat before opening her mouth to reply.

 

“Hey, AJ’s safe. We got him out. And you are gonna be okay, too. Just… stay still. I’m trying to get you out of this stupid seatbelt.” Violet said, quickening her cutting pace since she could hear more cracking noise from inside the car.

 

“Vi! We’ve _got_ to leave! Hurry the fuck up!” Marlon yelled again, urgency evident in his voice.

 

“God! I’m trying Marlon! Just—” Luckily, the belt finally snapped in two after another slash of her cleaver, causing the brunette to drop to the roof of the car with another painful groan. 

 

“Oof, sorry…” Violet mumbled, putting back her cleaver and beginning to drag the girl out of this ticking time bomb as fast as possible. She could smell the gas as more smoke billowed out from under the hood. “Aasim! A hand!” She yelled through clenched teeth, finally managing to get this girl out promptly with Aasim’s help.

 

She slumped back onto the ground for a brief moment to catch her breath, watching Aasim carry the girl on his back and prepare to run back to the school. Just as she was about to jump up and follow suit, something inside the car caught her attention.

 

It was an old worn-out baseball cap with a capital “D” barely attached to the front. There were blood stains and holes scattering all over this blue and white cap, silently indicating the countless battles and the cruel fates it might have witnessed throughout the years with its owner.

 

Violet hesitated, debating inwardly over whether she should go and retrieve that cap for the girl she just extricated. It was odd, to keep such a raggedy cap purely for protection or style, and it wasn’t like it would be helpful during a combat either. Most of the time, wearing a cap would probably only cause more inconvenience and discomfort, in Violet’s opinion. So, it must be out of some sort of sentimental reasons. Perhaps a gift from a friend? A loved one? Or simply just something from home to remember how life used to be?

 

“Violet! What the hell are you doing?! We have to go! NOW!” Marlon urged again loudly, starting to retreat to the road back to the school with the others after finally clearing the way temporarily.

 

“Fuck, I’m so going to regret this…” Violet muttered, lunging forward and grabbing the cap from inside the car in one swift motion, and while she was at it, she also saw the girl’s backpack perched next to the dashboard. Rolling her eyes, she also snatched up the bag because why not? She was already crazy enough risking being blown up to rescue a baseball cap, she might as well save the girl’s other supplies too.

 

“Vi!!!”

 

“I’m coming I’m coming! Geez!!!” Violet barked out, quickly scrambling onto her feet with the girl’s belongings clutched close to her chest and sprinted away from the car to join the group, dodging a few walkers on her way.

 

They didn’t even manage to run a mile before they heard another explosion. Even louder than the first time, which undeniably would make the woods swarm with walkers for the next few weeks.

 

So, like she said. So. Fucking. Inconvenient.

 

 

* * *

 

 

This boy, AJ, was a feisty little fighter. Violet would give him that. In the span of approximately 3 hours, he had managed to stomp on Louis’ foot (twice), elbow Marlon right in his crotch, bite Ruby’s finger, break one of Omar’s bowls, and scare off Willy merely by his death stares.

 

So, in a nutshell, Violet liked him already.

 

She was currently chilling in her usual spot, sitting high up on top of the wall and watching her friends try to calm AJ down in the yard with great amusement. The boy didn’t seem to like when people approached him from behind, she observed, since whoever did that were always the one that got hurt.  

 

“How about this, little man, if you come with me, I’ll play something on the piano for you, yeah?” Louis suggested, artfully dodging another one of AJ’s swings at him when he was trying to grab the boy.

 

AJ stopped in his tracks, knitting his brows together incredulously. “What’s a… piano?” He asked.

 

“Aw man, you don’t know what a piano is? You are totally missing out, little dude! Come on, I’ll gladly show you! But you have to promise not to attack me again, okay?”

 

AJ hesitated, biting his bottom lip. “But Clem…”

 

“She just needs some rest now. Marlon will make sure that she’ll come find you as soon as she wakes up, right Marlon?”

 

“Yep,” Marlon nodded, gesturing towards the dorm building, “We’ve got Tenn there to look after her, and I’ll go check up on her myself now. You can go with Louis, it’s okay.”

 

AJ eyed the two and seemed to really ponder over the idea. “Alright.” He nodded, and then scoffed when Louis held out his hand for him to take, “I’m not a baby.”

 

“Um… okay, no hand holding. Got it.” Louis cleared his throat awkwardly, retrieving his hand. “Let’s go then.” And with that, he disappeared into the admin building with AJ in tow.

 

 _Well, show’s over._ Violet thought, letting out a puff of air. She adjusted her position and lied down on her back with her arms folded under her head, frowning when her stomach started to growl a little.

 

After they got back, Aasim, Mitch and Brody were sent out hunting again, even though it was almost dusk. Omar said the food was nowhere near enough to feed them all today, especially since she and Brody didn’t have any luck with the fish traps this morning. Ruby was immediately preoccupied with treating the newly rescued. Fortunately, AJ only got a few minor scratches, but the girl took a pretty nasty hit on the head, which was why she was still resting in one of the dorm rooms after Ruby patched her up.

 

Clementine. Violet learnt that was her name apparently. And just to be clear, she only knew that because AJ wouldn’t stop asking for her or talking about how badass this Clementine was, not because she was eavesdropping or some creep that went through the girl’s belongings. She only opened the backpack to put that baseball cap in before shoving the bag to Marlon for him to return it to the girl later. And although she was starting to get a little annoyed when AJ rambled on and on about Clementine, she couldn’t help but become curious, too. If what AJ said was true, that they were on the road all by themselves this whole time, then there must be something about this Clementine. Because surviving out there all alone was nothing like living here inside walls with a group. It must be tough as hell and she wondered what kind of traumatic experiences those two might have gone through over the years to get this far.

 

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a low whistle from Tenn. Sitting back up, she was just in time to see Marlon walk out of the dorm building with Clementine beside him. They stood there talking for a brief moment before both strolling into the yard and heading towards the admin building.

 

Violet couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath when Clementine walked close enough for her to see her face. Because now, free of any blood from the accident, Clementine looked… unbelievably beautiful, even with that bandage wrapped around her forehead and her blood-stained jacket. And there was indeed something so compelling about Clementine that made it almost impossible for Violet to tear her gaze away from the brunette.

 

Ever since the outbreak, they had picked up a few other kids every now and then, every single one of them looking timid, fidgety, scared even when they first walked across this school yard and greeted the others. But not Clementine. She was calm, collected, guarded, and yet also had a natural warmth to her that would draw people to her like a magnet. Violet continued to stare at the brunette closely, watching Clementine greet Willy and then stand there listening to Marlon give her some sort of orientation to the school. After Marlon ran off to deal with Willy, Violet noticed Clementine started to scan the area with her eyes with sharp alert before making any further moves.

 

 _Cautious and observant._ Violet nodded in approval and crossed her arms in front of her chest, a small smile starting to tug at the corner of her lips. _No wonder they survived this long by themselves._

She was a little caught off guard when Clementine’s eyes suddenly snapped up to her and their gaze collided. And for a split second, there was something indescribable flashing in those hazel orbs that Violet couldn’t quite decipher. With a slightly arched eyebrow, Violet managed to maintain their elongated eye contact for a few seconds longer before looking away first, trying not to think too much about the strange tingle that ran down her spine or the sudden fluttering of her heart.

 

She waited until she saw Clementine start moving again in her peripheral vision to turn her full attention back to the brunette again, her lower lip unconsciously caught between her teeth as she watched Clementine disappear into the admin building.

 

Intrigued.

 

Yeah, she was definitely intrigued by Clementine.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Violet was lying on one of the beds in Tenn’s dorm, mindlessly watching Tenn sketching yet another picture, with a candle lit on the corner of his small desk. After failing to fall asleep in her own room, she had decided to come to Tenn’s room to hang out, knowing the boy would always stay up late to finish some of his drawings.

 

Today was an eventful day. Probably the most eventful and exhausting day she’d had in a long time. Turned out Willy found that the hunting party was actually trapped outside the gate and needed them to help clear the way. Therefore, having to go out in the woods for the third time in a day put her in such a grouchy mood that she didn’t even bother to acknowledge Clementine and introduce herself when the brunette approached her. Well, now that she thought about it, that might come off as a little bit rude, but whatever, Louis introduced her on her behalf anyways.

 

Violet had to admit that she was a little impressed by Clementine’s fighting skills. She caught a few glimpses of the girl from time to time during the fight. Clementine’s dagger gleamed in the orange glow of the sunset, each thrust precise, quick and deadly. She weaved in and out through the herd of undead with such poise and confidence, like she had done it for a million times; like this whole thing– shoving her blade into walkers’ skulls one after another– couldn’t be any more normal. And if Violet herself wasn’t busy killing walkers too, she would honestly watch Clementine like this all day.

 

After reuniting with the hunting group and managing to clear out a safe passage back to the school together, Violet was just started to feel a little relieved that the day was finally over, then Louis had to come and ruin it by babbling about grading their performance (also, not that she cared, but how dare he gave her a B-minus?! What the hell?!). It was annoying enough that she had to listen to Louis’ dumb cinematic cheering every time he killed off a walker (or in his words, “ _school_ ” a walker), now he still wouldn’t shut up and even begin to unabashedly flirt with Clementine, which was seriously getting on Violet’s last nerve.  

 

Violet let out an exasperated groan and quickened her pace, wanting to walk ahead and get away from the two, but Clementine’s voice stopped her.

 

_“Umm, you kicked ass, Violet. A-plus.”_

 

And there it was again. The strange tingle that ran through her body like a light electric shock.

 

Violet could feel Clementine’s gaze on her, so she glanced at the smiling brunette for a brief second. _“I know.”_ She replied, her lips curling upwards into a small smile too. And somehow, weirdly, her previous irritation and exhaustion all faded away in an instant.

 

Violet sighed, rolling onto her side to face the paint chipped wall in Tenn’s room. She didn’t seem to get her mind off of Clementine no matter how hard she tried, which was so unlike her. She tried to force herself to sleep when she went back to her own room after the card game, but whenever she closed her eyes, all she saw was just fragments of those beautiful amber and honey orbs.

 

God, those eyes… now that Violet had seen them in close proximity, she couldn’t help but become a little mesmerized. Clementine’s eyes were a brilliant hazel. The perfect swirls of golden brown spread out to a darker boarder, edged with a smooth dark forest green. When she was joking and laughing, they were warm, vivid, and sparkled with exhilaration that would make everyone around her smile. When she was downcast and disheartened, they seemed to grow dim and dark too, like every time she talked about that man named Lee during their card game earlier. Most of the time, those firm eyes were filled with nothing but unassailable composure and determination, but Violet also caught a tinge of sadness carefully hidden behind. When Clementine walked away from the card game after Louis asked that stupid question, Violet almost went after her, wanting to comfort her and tell her that everything would be okay, even though they both knew no one could make that promise these days. But she’d still like to try. She’d still like to try her best to wipe that deep sorrow away from Clementine’s face.

 

However, she immediately caught herself before she even stood up from the table. What the hell was wrong with her?! They had just met, and besides, she wasn’t actually in any place to talk about how to deal with sad memories or grief either. Nowadays, everyone had their own sad stories, everyone was heartbroken in some sort. And perhaps, there just wasn’t anything they could do about it anymore, and it was just pointless, trying to fix a broken heart.

 

With a firm shake of her head to get rid of all her thoughts, Violet sat up straight from the bed. Apparently she wouldn’t have any luck getting some sleep in Tenn’s dorm room either, so she might as well actually hang out with the boy for a while.

 

“Hey Tenn, so uh… AJ was playing with you after dinner, right? Did… did he tell you anything about him or… or Clementine? Like where they’re from, or what happened to them?” She asked.

 

Tenn turned around in his chair to face Violet, “No, he didn’t mention anything like that… Why?”

 

“Oh, nothing, nothing. I’m just… curious.”

 

Tenn studied Violet’s face for a while, before opening his mouth, “You like them, don’t you?”

 

Violet blinked, letting out a nervous laugh, “I… well, I don’t hate them.”

 

“Hmm… okay.” Tenn hummed, turning back around and soon started to dig in his paintbox as if he was looking for something.

 

“Vi, can you get me some more art supplies from Soph’s room? I don’t think I have enough colour to finish this drawing.”

 

Violet frowned. She hadn’t been back in that room for a while. “Are you sure you need it now, buddy? Can’t we wait till tomorrow morning so you can go get it yourself?”

 

“Please Vi? I really want to finish this drawing tonight.”

 

With a sigh, Violet stood up from the bed. “Fine, I’ll go get it. Be back in a bit.”

 

“You’re welcome, Vi.” Tenn grinned as Violet shuffled toward the door reluctantly.

 

“What? Aren’t you supposed to say thank you?” Violet was confused, but she brushed it off and left to go to Sophie’s room down the hall.

 

The second she pushed the door open, she immediately understood why Tenn was asking her to come here. Marlon set Clementine and AJ in this room and no one even bothered to tell her about it. Great.

 

 _Shit, that little rascal!_ Violet scolded inside, awkwardly asking for the art supplies that Tenn sent her to get. Knowing Tenn probably was just trying to give her an excuse to come here and didn’t actually need those coloured pencils, she told AJ to keep them since the boy seemed to quite enjoy painting too. But Clementine insisted AJ should give them back, so the least she could do was to let AJ finish the picture he was currently drawing.

 

While waiting, Violet wandered around the small dorm room casually, smiling when she recalled some of the happy times she spent here. Without even realising, she began to tell Clementine about the twins, about how this room used to look like, about the crazy sleepovers they used to have here. However, it wasn’t long before the bad memories started to creep in, along with the familiar anger, guilt and sadness that used to keep her up countless nights. So she clenched her jaw and hardened her features, leaving out all the painful details and ending the conversations hastily.

 

Clementine seemed to sense that, so she didn’t make further comments or ask any more questions either. They just sat quietly on opposite beds in the room, with the only sound in the room being AJ’s pencil scratching across the paper.

 

“Marlon told me you were the one that saved all our stuff from the wreck.” Clementine finally broke the silence after a while.

 

“Oh,” Violet looked up at the brunette, shrugging, “Yeah… it was me.”

 

“Well, thank you.” Clementine smiled. She reached out and picked up the baseball cap sitting on the bed beside her, fingertips skimming over one of the faded blood stains. “Especially for this. Thank you.”

 

Violet fixed her gaze on Clementine, noticing the same sadness emerging in those golden-brown eyes again, just like during the card game when the brunette mentioned Lee. Perhaps this cap had something to do with him… with his death even.

 

“No problem.” Violet replied softly, biting down on her lips. “Hey, are… are you okay? I mean the game earlier, I’m sure Louis didn’t mean to upset you. I’ll tell him to watch his mouth from now on. He’s just this giant idiot, he didn’t know—”

 

“I’m okay, Violet.” Clementine chuckled lightly and looked up, the usual sparks back in her eyes. “Thanks though, for making sure I’m okay. And for telling me those stories earlier. To be honest, I thought you hated me before.”

 

Violet was suddenly blushing, “Yeah, s-sorry about that. I know I was basically a bitch to you when we first met.”

 

“Hmm, you _were_ kind of mean to me, but all is forgiven. You are actually very sweet.”

 

Violet gulped in horror upon hearing that, “Oh my god! I’m so not sweet! Please take that back!”

 

Clementine laughed, “Too late, sweet Violet, you’ve revealed your true self and I can’t take it back now.”

 

Violet groaned, “Ugh, then I’m taking my apology back! I’m totally going to hate you from now on.”

 

“Well, I—” Unfortunately, their playful banter was cut off by AJ’s yell of triumph.

 

“I’m an artist now, Clem!”

 

Clementine smirked at Violet, before standing up from the bed and going to check out AJ’s first painting ever.

 

Violet followed suit and walked over to the desk too, starting to pack up the box with AJ’s help. She could feel Clementine’s eyes on her the whole time and for some reason, it started to make her crazy nervous.

 

When she was finally done, she glanced up at Clementine. Under the dim illumination of the candlelight, the soft glimmer in those dazzling hazel eyes made Violet’s heart skip a beat involuntarily.

 

“I should be getting back.” She said rather abruptly, rushing over to the door and with a quick “see ya”, she basically fled the room without even waiting for Clementine’s reply.

 

God, what the hell was going on with her?!

 

 


	2. Part II

 

Violet honestly couldn’t understand how things went down like this in just a matter of seconds.

 

Everything happened so fast. The gunshot cracked into the freezing night air, echoed around the yard and reverberated in everyone’s ears. Almost as loud as the deafening thunders.

 

Violet was still in somewhat of a shock, her brain desperately trying to process the sudden turn of the events. She stared at Marlon’s lifeless body on the ground as gusting winds whipped her soaked hair and clothes ferociously, making her shiver a little. Heavy sheets of rain continued to lash down upon them unforgivingly, splattering on the concrete ground and starting to wash away some of the blood. When the incessant shouting and screaming around her began getting louder and louder, Violet finally blinked out of her trance and lifted her head to look at the source of the noise. And that was when she saw the nervous look on Clementine’s blood-splattered face, as well as a furious Mitch who looked like he was about to pounce on AJ at any second.

 

Without any hesitation, Violet immediately launched forward and stood in front of AJ to face the infuriated group, drawing out her cleaver in the process.

 

“Back off. All of you.” She warned, glaring pointedly at Mitch. She knew she had to get Clementine and AJ away from here as fast as possible, otherwise the situation was just going to get worse and even harder for her to control. So she cast a quick glance at Clementine, “Take AJ, go inside.” She urged, hoping no one would stopped the two.

 

But of course Louis wasn’t going to let them off the hook this easily. Violet could feel the rage boiling in him as he continued to yell at Clementine and marched dangerously close to the brunette.

 

She had to act fast and step between Louis and Clementine again, cutting off Louis’ snarls. “We get it, Louis. Just back off, okay?” She asked again, voice slightly lower and gentler this time.

 

Louis stared down at her in disbelief, and this little hesitation from him successfully gave Clementine a window to walk away back to the dorms with AJ.

 

Violet let out a small sigh of relief knowing Clementine and AJ would at least be safe for now. With a deep breath, she turned to Louis and prepared herself for his inevitable outburst.

 

“What the fuck, Violet?! You can’t just let them go back to the dorms! The kid’s a murderer! He just murdered Marlon for fuck’s sake! How the hell are we supposed to feel safe while a murderer is walking among us?! God knows what else Clementine has been teaching this kid—”

 

“It’s not Clementine’s fault, Louis. And you need to calm down.” Violet said sternly and stared into Louis’ eyes, unperturbed by his harsh tone.

 

Louis let out an incredulous laugh, “Calm down? Are you fucking kidding me?! My best friend just died. Murdered merely because he did something that kid didn’t like—”

 

“You and I both know it’s a lot more complicated than that, Louis.” Violet countered, her voice starting to get louder too. “You heard what Marlon said, right? He was the one that murdered Brody and gave up Sophie and Minnie, I just—” Violet closed her eyes briefly, trying to stay calm as best she could. “Shit, can we not argue right now? We have other things to deal with.”   

 

Louis scoffed and shook his head. He glared at Violet for a few more seconds, and then stormed off to join the others who were still standing around Marlon’s body without a word.

 

Violet sighed, before slowly walking back to the group too. “We should bury the bodies and we’ll have a funeral in the morning I guess. I’ll…” She swallowed, “I’ll go get Brody’s body from the basement.” And with that, she left.

 

 

* * *

 

 

This stupid vote was such a terrible idea.

 

The second Mitch proposed the idea, Violet knew she wouldn’t be able to keep Clementine and AJ here in the school anymore, especially without Louis on her side.

 

So, as expected, three against five. Clementine and AJ had to leave.

 

No fucking surprise there.

 

While escorting Clementine and AJ out past the safe zone, it almost took everything in Violet not to stab Louis with the arrow in her hand when he kept yammering about surviving outside the walls as if he had a fucking clue what it was actually like.

 

She let out an irritated sigh when Louis made another stupid comment about how it was like “going home” for Clementine and AJ to be back on the road again. Seriously, Louis can be such an inconsiderate asshat sometimes.

 

Tuning out Louis voice, Violet’s gaze drifted to Clementine again, who was walking a good distance ahead of them and her mind started to replay all the moments she got to share with Clementine yesterday before she could help it. She thought back to their walk to the old shack, their talk by the river, the impromptu adventure to the train station, and that late dinner back at the school when Clementine sat close next to her. It was strange. Bewildering even, that Violet spent years and years building up walls around her heart, but it only seemed to take a few smiles and warm gazes from the brunette to make Violet drop all of her guard. Frankly, it had never been easy for her, to let someone in, and yet there was just something about Clementine, some… instant and inenarrable connection between them that made Violet want to talk about everything with her; that made Violet want to express whatever she was feeling to her, and she knew Clementine would be able to understand. She just knew.

 

Pursing her lips slightly, Violet’s thoughts wandered to her last conversation with Brody too. Regret started to re-emerge when she thought of how she had been treating Brody after the incident with the twins. But at least they got to talk a little and started to bond again during their fishing trip yesterday so her last memories of Brody didn’t end up being them having another stupid and meaningless argument. It was all thanks to Clementine. And Violet couldn’t be more grateful for that.

 

She halted in her tracks when she noticed they had reached the edge of the safe zone and her heart clenched. It was time. To say goodbye.

 

“We’re here.” She said, knitting her brows slightly. “The road’s that way.” She nodded towards the road on their left side.

 

No one said anything after that. They just stood there in the woods in silence, while gusty wind rustled the leaves relentlessly above them. Violet knew Clementine was looking at her, but she didn’t dare to look back into those bright golden-brown eyes. Because she had failed. She had failed Clementine and AJ and let them down. This whole situation was so fucking unfair, yet she just couldn’t do anything about it. And it sucked, having to watch people leave again without being able to do anything to help.

 

Violet curled her fingers around the compound bow harder until it started to hurt when the cold metal pressed into her palm. “Anything you want to say before we go?” She turned to look at Louis.

 

“I’ve said plenty.”

 

Violet nodded and didn’t know what to say either. She was never good at saying goodbyes. And it was almost ridiculous, to feel like this. Like her heart was being stabbed a thousand times; like her chest was filled with lead, making her unable to breathe. She didn’t understand herself, because she should be used to all this. She had watched people leave all her life and this time shouldn’t be any different and it shouldn’t hurt this much, but…

 

“Thanks for trying to keep us.”

 

Violet’s eyes snapped up to AJ at the boy’s slightly timid voice. Her face instantly softened. “You’re welcome.” She said gently, before letting out a small sigh. “I wish you could stay…”

 

“Come on, let’s just go, Violet.” Louis tutted in irritation, starting to move.

 

“Can you just give us a fucking minute, Louis?!” Violet raised her voice and had to resist the urge to punch Louis right in the face. Her patience with Louis was seriously about to reach the breaking point.

 

“It’s okay, Violet.” Clementine’s soft voice pulled Violet’s attention to her, and she smiled at Violet. “It’s okay. I wish we hadn’t fucked it up.”

 

Violet gazed deep into Clementine’s eyes, the warmth in those swirls of deep brown and the gentle flashing of the golden flecks suddenly making her vision become a little blurry. Even at a time like this, Clementine was still trying to comfort her and make her feel better, when she should be the one to comfort Clementine; when she should be the one fighting harder to keep them.

 

Violet shook her head, “You didn’t fuck up. Marlon did. Even dead, he’s still ruining shit.”

 

This comment undoubtedly caused Louis to shoot a disapproving glare at her. “Jesus, Violet. Give him some fucking peace.”

 

She glared back at him unapologetically, before letting her gaze land back on Clementine again. She knew chances were this would be the last time she’d ever see her. Violet swallowed the lump in her throat, suddenly having an overwhelming urge to run over and pull Clementine into her arms and tell her not to leave. But she refrained herself.

 

“Stay safe. Both of you.”

 

With that, she turned around and left before anyone could see the tears in her eyes.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Jesus, will you please just slow down, Vi?!” Louis called from behind, struggling to keep pace with Violet on their way back to the school.

 

Violet rolled her eyes, walking even faster despite Louis’ protests. She just wanted to get back to the school and lock herself in her room and not talk to anyone as soon as possible.

 

“Violet!” Louis had to run a few steps to finally catch up with Violet. He grabbed one of her arms to stop her, “Seriously, what is your problem?!”

 

“What is my problem?! Are you fucking kidding me?!” Violet yanked her arm away from Louis’ grasp, turning around and glaring hard into his eyes, “My problem is that we’ve made a huge mistake and just sent two kids out there to die! That’s my fucking problem!”

 

“They are a danger to the group, you can’t deny that.”

 

“Oh for god’s sake, Louis! You can’t seriously believe that!” Violet let out an incredulous laugh, “Can you just stop avoiding responsibility and pull your head out of your fucking a—” She froze when a loud gunshot suddenly rang out in the still air, cutting her off abruptly.

 

She looked back at Louis with wide eyes, and before either of them could say anything, they heard the gun fire again, this time also accompanied with some indistinctive shouting of a man. Cutting through the air, the harsh noise didn’t sound like from afar. It sounded exactly from where they had just come from. The edge of the safe zone, where they left Clementine and AJ.

 

“Shit, Clem…” Violet breathed out, an uneasy sense of foreboding starting to make her heart sink. And then, without a second thought, she instantly lunged forward and started to run towards the source of the gunshots, praying that it wasn’t too late and Clementine and AJ were both still okay.

 

“Wait Violet—” Louis hissed after her when he failed to stop her, but Violet had already run too far to hear whatever he had to say. “God damn it!” Louis cursed under his breath, before turning around as well and running after Violet with a frustrated groan.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It didn’t take Violet very long to find them. Just a little outside the safe zone, Clementine and AJ were already captured by two strangers. A man and a woman, who couldn’t look more like those fucking raiders. Burning rage instantly swept through Violet’s body like ferocious waves when she saw the way the woman had Clementine pinned on the ground— one boot on her neck and a gun pointed to her head.

 

Although Violet’s first instinct was to just jump out there and fight them head-on, deep down she knew she needed to be smart about this, given the fact that the two raiders both had guns in their hands. However, from the looks of it, they were talking like they needed to get some information or wanted to strike some kind of deal, so this might mean Clementine and AJ’s lives were not in immediate danger, and she could use this extra time to actually form a better plan to save them.

 

Violet bit down on her lip and clutched the compound bow in her hand harder, seeing Louis finally caught up with her in her peripheral vision. “Come on,” She said to him in a hushed voice, crouching lower and beginning to move as quietly as possible in the bushes. “I need to get a bit closer, so I can get a better shot at those raiders.”

 

She stopped behind a tree and decided it was a good spot for her to shoot the invaders since they had their back to her. With a deep breath, she signalled Louis, raised her bow, and readied her arrow, but just before she could let it loose, the strangest thing happened that almost caused her to drop her bow completely.

 

The female raider who had her gun pointed to Clementine’s face just a few seconds ago suddenly lowered it down to her side, before reaching out a hand to pull the brunette up.

 

“What the…” Louis said dumbfoundedly, “Is… is Clementine one of the—”

 

“Shush Louis, I’m trying to listen!” Violet hissed and then strained her ears trying to make out the conversation between Clementine and the raiders.

 

“Marlon? I heard Marlon’s name, are they talking about Marlon?!” Louis whispered furiously to her again, despite her previous scolding.

 

“I know, I heard it too. Now stop talking Louis!” Violet glared at him briefly, before returning her attention to Clementine. Her mind was racing. Clementine couldn’t be one of the raiders, could she? No, she was definitely not one of them. Violet was sure of that, because she could see it from Clementine’s body language. The brunette still seemed guarded and quite uncomfortable even though the woman appeared to be less hostile towards her and AJ. But it still looked a lot like they knew each other, and it just didn’t make any sense.

 

Violet frowned. She couldn’t hear every word they were saying from where she and Louis was hiding, but luckily, the man got impatient shortly and raised his voice. She widened her eyes when she heard that they were actually planning to capture all the kids from the school for some reason and were asking Clementine to help.

 

She glanced at Louis nervously when Clementine straight up refused the raiders’ offer. And of course the man wouldn’t let it go easily. He grabbed AJ’s arm and twisted it behind his back roughly, eliciting a few painful cries from the boy.

 

“Well how about I take the little squirt here right now,” He said to Clementine with a malicious smirk on his scarred face, “Maybe this way you’ll play nice.”

 

“Shit.” Louis cursed quietly and closed his eyes briefly, before looking back at Violet with a determined look. “Do it, Vi.”

 

Violet nodded, quickly drawing out her bow again and aiming at the woman who was towering over Clementine. She squinted and held her breath, preparing to release the arrow. And right in that moment, she and Louis finally caught Clementine’s eye. Violet froze and furrowed her brow, because even though their eyes only met for a split second, she still saw something in those golden-brown orbs. It almost felt like Clementine was silently telling her “no” with a non-negotiable finality. But that was crazy, how could she just hide here and not do anything to—

 

“RUN!”

 

Out of the blue, she heard Clementine yell at them and in complete surprise, her hand twitched, lowering the compound bow instinctively.

 

Everything happened in sort of a blur after that. Violet was slightly stunned. She watched the two invaders spin around and search the woods with their eyes before eventually spotting her and Louis. The man immediately shoved AJ to the ground before storming towards them instead. And the next thing she knew, Louis was frantically pulling her up and starting to run.

 

“Shit! We have to go, Violet! Come on!” Louis shouted, dragging her along with him.

 

Violet instantly came back to her senses, picking up her pace to catch up with Louis. She glanced back at Clementine and saw the brunette take down the woman with a swift kick before taking AJ and running in the opposite direction. _Shit._

 

She didn’t know how long she had been running with Louis. Eventually, she was out of breath and had to stop. She bent forward, hands pressed on her knees and gasping for air. The raider guy didn’t seem to be after them anymore. They could still hear some gunshots, a little more frequent, but they had grown more distant as well.

 

“Shit, Louis…” Violet breathed, looking up at him, who was also catching his breath in front of her. “The walkers probably heard the gunshots and showed up too. We have to… Clementine and AJ, they’re not familiar with the woods like us, we have to go find—”

 

“Violet…” Louis interrupted her and looked at her with a conflicted expression. “I know. But we need to get back to the school and warn the others. The raiders… they are not gonna stop their plan. We have to tell the others what happened.”

 

“But—”

 

“They’ll survive.” Louis said, “Clementine could practically deal with anything, right? And us wandering in the woods too would just distract her and make her worry. She told us to run, remember? She’d want us to go back to the school and protect the others.”

 

Violet was silent. Because Louis had a point. And although she didn’t like the idea of running away and leaving Clementine and AJ alone in the woods, she knew she needed to trust Clementine.

 

“Fine.” She relented. With a sigh, she stood up straight and started to head back to the school with Louis, trying to push down the churning feeling in her stomach _._

* * *

 

 

It was probably near midnight. Violet wasn’t sure. She was currently on look-out duty after volunteering to take two shifts for tonight. She couldn’t sleep anyway and needed time to think. About how to keep everyone safe, how to deal with those raiders when they inevitably showed up again, and of course, about… Clementine and AJ.

 

As soon as she and Louis got back to the school, they told the others everything, and then practically spent about an hour trying to calm the group down. Everyone was scared, including her, and worse still, no one seemed to have a single clue what to do. Violet sighed, leaning forward and resting her hands on the half-broken wooden rail, carefully avoiding the splinters that stuck out. Her eyes scanned the woods for the millionth time, but apart from a few mindless walkers wandering here and there, she could see nothing but the boundless darkness. She didn’t know what she was searching for. Maybe a small part of her hoped that she would find Clementine and AJ, or that they would come back. But why would they? They were inexorably kicked out of the school, which had now unfortunately become the raiders’ primary target. Violet bet they’d want to get as far away as possible from Ericson. But that was, if they were still… alive.

 

Violet’s stomach heaved at the thought, and she had to mentally force herself to stop imagining those horrible scenarios that flashed in her mind.

 

She heard some rustling noise behind her and glanced back, seeing Louis climb up the ladder and join her in their tiny make-shift lookout tower.

 

“I don’t think it’s time for your shift, Louis. I can still do it for a while.”

 

“I know you do.” Louis simply replied, plopping down at the corner a few feet away from her and made himself comfortable. “Couldn’t sleep either, so I thought I’d come and keep you company.”

 

Violet rolled her eyes, but didn’t make any comments. She turned her attention back to the forest, slowly drifting off to her own thoughts again.

 

There was a long moment of silence between them before Louis spoke up.

 

“You okay?”

 

Violet didn’t respond to that.

 

She tilted her head skyward and stared at the scattered stars that were barely flickering, before finally opening her mouth. “She could’ve told those raiders where the school is, Louis. But she chose to protect us, even after we…” She trailed off, voice breaking a little.

 

“I know. I… I feel terrible.” Louis said in a small voice, eyes casting down. “You know, I kept telling myself that AJ and Clem were to blame because it was just easier… I don’t want to think about what Marlon was really like and all those horrible things he did. We were like brothers, Vi. But instead of helping him like a brother should, I forgot he was just a teenager too and left him with all those responsibilities. And then I just sat around all day making silly jokes and playing stupid games…” He took out his set of cards from his pocket and looked at them sadly. “I didn’t ask questions, didn’t check up on him, didn’t even notice something was wrong. I did nothing. And now, again, just to make myself feel better, I put the blame on Clem when I was actually responsible for the twins’ disappearance and my best friend’s death—”

 

“Hey, stop. We are all responsible, Louis. It’s not just your fault.” Violet interrupted softly, moving to sit down opposite him.

 

Louis offered her a wry smile and nodded slightly. “I just hope I get to apologize to them when they get back.”

 

Violet heart sank again. “ _If_ , you mean. _If_ they’re alive. _If_ they come back.” She could feel a lump forming in her throat, so she swallowed against it and turned her head back to the woods, hugging her knees closer to her body.

 

Louis watched Violet for a while, “I have a good feeling that she’ll come back, Vi. I know it.”

 

“What, you can tell the future with your cards now? Doctor Facilier?” Violet teased, looking down at the cards in Louis’ hand with feigned wonder.

“Very funny.” Louis snorted, “Laugh all you want, but when she comes back with AJ, you won’t be laughing at me no more.”

 

Violet shook her head. Although she wanted to believe Louis’ words, the guy was known to be a little excessively optimistic. And in brutal times like these, optimism was the last thing she needed, because it could only mean more disappointment and more heartbreak.

 

“You’re falling in love with her, aren’t you?”

 

Louis’ voice suddenly brought Violet back into reality, and once she registered what he said, her cheeks immediately flushed red.

 

“What?! You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Violet mumbled, averting her gaze. “I’ve known her for like what? Barely three days… You don’t fall in love with someone you just met three days ago. You can’t.”

 

“Come on, Vi. I saw the way you were looking at her.” Louis said gently, eyes fixed on Violet. “I’ve never seen you look at anyone like that. Not even… not even Mi—”

 

“Don’t.” Violet cut Louis off harshly, a dangerous edge in her voice.

 

Louis sighed, deciding to let the topic go before he got beaten up by Violet. “Sorry.” He apologized, “I’m just saying, I think you should face your feelings and tell her, if, she comes back.”

 

“Why do you care?” Violet was suddenly getting defensive, “I thought you were the one that constantly flirted with her. So why don’t you face your feelings and ask her out if she comes back?!”

 

Louis laughed, but immediately shut up when Violet glared at him. “Okay, I will then, but I’m not so sure she’d say yes.” He smirked, watching Violet roll her eyes annoyingly.

 

“Alright, I think it’s time for you to get some sleep, Vi. You’ve been up for almost a whole day and we need you tomorrow morning.” Louis suggested, “I’ll take it from here.”

 

Violet hesitated for a second, before relenting. “Fine.” She got up and started to climb down the ladder, “I’ll go back to the office. Have fun out here and don’t fall asleep, dude. You can ask your cards how we’re gonna deal with the raiders while you are at it.”

 

She smiled when she successfully dodged the twigs that Louis threw in her direction. And this night suddenly became a little easier somehow.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Louis was right.

 

Clementine did come back with AJ. About 5 hours later.

 

Violet couldn’t believe what she was hearing from Willy at first, but when she rushed out of the office with the others, there she was, standing at the foot of the stairs, fatigue and worry all over her face, but alive. Clementine was alive, and she came back.

 

Waves of emotions instantly swept over Violet’s body, almost engulfing her entirely. The great relief, the joy, the stabbing pain in her heart when she noticed AJ’s wound and the bruises on Clementine’s face, the butterflies in her stomach when those gorgeous hazel eyes found hers, and the breath caught in her throat when Clementine smiled at her, gently and warmly, just like always, despite everything that happened…

 

Every sign was screaming at her that Louis was right about her feelings for Clementine as well.

 

And God, she hated when Louis was right.

 

 


	3. Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about the delay, guys! I was not very happy with the original Part III I wrote a while ago and kept making changes. Now, although I’m still not 100% satisfied with this one, I’ve decided to post it anyway cause I feel like it’s starting to get worse with more changes lol. Besides, I really want to move on and work on my next story, which I’m very excited about! So yeh, hope this last chapter turned out okay… ;) 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this story and of course, thank you for all the lovely comments, kudos, subscriptions, etc.! You guys are amazing! xx

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Alright, next question. Favourite… food?”

 

Violet asked expectantly, adjusting her position on the couch and folding her right leg under her so she could face Clementine. “Come on, you gotta have an answer for this one!”

 

Over the past week, Violet had been busy organising everyone to fortify the school in preparation for the raiders’ attack, with Clementine’s help. They had spent a lot of time in the office, trying to come up with more strategies and more traps to defend themselves once the raiders showed up. To be honest, Violet wasn’t one hundred percent sure that all of them would work, but at least they were doing something, and Clementine did seem to know what she was doing, so maybe, they actually had a chance to survive this and fight off the raiders once and for all.

 

Usually, their discussions would last quite a long time until way past midnight. And since both of them would be too tired to walk back to the dorms, only to leave not long after again for their early lookout shifts, Violet had suggested that they just crash on the office couch, which was actually pretty comfy for a few hours of sleep. Some nights, when neither of them could sleep, they would just sit on the couch, talking about anything and everything for hours, until one of them had to leave for their shift. And apparently, tonight was one of those sleepless nights, too.

 

“Hmm, I don’t know...” Clementine narrowed her eyes and pondered over Violet’s question for a few seconds. “What’s yours?”

 

“Chicken nuggets.” Violet answered without hesitation. “Ugh, I’d honestly give an eyeball for a chicken nugget right now.”

 

Clementine laughed, “Really? I don’t quite remember those anymore. We didn’t usually have fast food at our house so…”

 

“Well, Grandma always got them for us on Sundays. You know, not enough time to cook between church and Bible study.” Violet explained, and then tilted her head, watching Clementine curiously. “Come on Clem, think hard, you gotta miss something. And maybeee…” She dragged out the word and wiggled her eyebrows at the brunette, “I can still get it for you.”

 

“I highly doubt that but…” Clementine trailed off, before suddenly perking up like she just thought of something. “Oh I know, chocolate chip cookies!” She announced, a small smile appearing on the corner of her lips. “Like those fresh out of the oven, warm chocolate chip cookies. My mom and I used to bake them on Friday afternoons and then just eat the first batch before my dad got back from work. I remember I would eat so many that I barely had any stomach left for dinner.”

 

Violet smiled too, “That sounds amazing.”

 

“It was.” Clementine nodded lightly, before the smile on her face faltered a little. “Anyway, moving on… I believe I get to ask the next question?”

 

“Yeah, ask away.” Violet said softly, hearing the small waver in Clementine’s voice.

 

“Okay, so… how come you always wear this cast thingy on your leg?” Clementine reached out, touching the cast on Violet’s right leg gently.

 

“Oh, it was a dumb story.” Violet scratched the back of her neck, a little embarrassed. “I used to skateboard and one time, I hurt my ankle pretty bad when I was trying to fly down a flight of stairs. I guess it never fully recovered since it can still get sprained pretty easily if I run too fast sometimes. And you know we can’t afford to have any injuries these days so I just put on a cast to keep it in place.”

 

“Wait, you used to skateboard?” Clementine raised one of her eyebrows.

 

“Yeah, obviously, I was one of those cool kids.” Violet said smugly, feeling her heart flutter in her chest when Clementine giggled. “What about you? What did you like to do before everything went to shit?”

 

“Well… I liked to read, I guess.”

 

“Yeah?” Violet was excited to learn something new about Clementine. “Any favourite books then?”

 

“You mean besides my favourite culinary magazine?” Clementine joked, before answering the question a little more seriously. “ _Charlotte’s Web…_ that’s about the only one I could remember anyway. Used to read it before bedtime.”

 

Violet couldn’t help but smile, “Yeah, I sort of remember that one, too. It’s a nice story.” She was just about to ask something else when an idea occurred to her all of a sudden. A few years ago, before their library burnt down, Ms. Martin used to keep a few nice novels in the old shack to read whenever they went fishing down there, so maybe, some of them still remained intact and she could actually get them for Clementine.

 

“Violet? What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing.” Violet answered quickly. She didn’t want to say anything, knowing she might not be able to find those books. And if she did, she kind of wanted it to be a surprise. “Just thinking about tomorrow. I can’t believe we are taking up Mitch’s suggestion.”

 

“I know, but I think it’s actually a good one. It’s like making our own creative version of scarecrows.”

 

“Yeah, but we’d have to get out and chop off a bunch of walkers’ heads first and then put them on the spears.” Violet made a face, before turning a little to peer out the window. The ebony sky had already started to turn into dim grey, which indicated that there were only a few hours left before sunrise. “Well, since we sure have a busy day ahead of us, should we try to get some sleep before your lookout shift? And by ‘we’ I mean you, I know you haven’t slept in 2 days.”

 

“Right.” Clementine yawned, nodding slightly. “Lend me a shoulder?”

 

Violet smiled and sat up straighter, patting her right shoulder for Clementine to lean on. “All yours.”

 

She swallowed nervously when Clementine scooted closer and rested her head on her shoulder.

 

“Thanks.” Clementine mumbled, nuzzling further into Violet’s neck. “Wake me up when it’s time?”

 

“Of course.” Violet assured. When she heard Clementine’s breathing become even, she turned her head carefully and planted a soft kiss on the brunette’s forehead. “Good night, Clem.” Violet whispered with a fond smile, completely unaware of the small curve that formed on Clementine’s lips too.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Okay guys, let’s just get this over with quickly. I don’t like the idea of us being out for too long.” Clementine said to the group as they stepped out of the school gate, glancing back at the school warily.

 

“I agree.” Violet said, “And I think we should split up. Don’t engage in any fights unless it’s absolutely necessary, get as many heads as you can and then come back in about an hour.” Seeing the group all nod, she started to divide them into smaller teams. “Alright, Aasim, you’re with Clem. Mitch, you go with Ruby. And I’ll take the greenhouse.”

 

“Wait, why are _you_ going to the greenhouse?” Mitch asked confusedly, “I thought I was going there since I need to get more fertilizer from there anyways.”

 

Violet rolled her eyes, “Because I need you out there with Ruby. The greenhouse is the closest and you guys already took down a few walkers last time so I can handle it by myself. Don’t worry, I’ll get the fertilizer for you, I know where it is.” Violet explained as naturally as she could, hoping Mitch would go along with her plan. She needed to go alone if she wanted to search for the books to surprise Clementine and going to the greenhouse was the only way to buy her some extra time to also travel down to the shack and then get back in time.

 

Mitch eyed Violet incredulously for a second, before shrugging. “Whatever. Just take as much fertilizer as you can. I need more to experiment on something.”

 

“Yeah, got it.” Violet swung the empty sacks over her shoulder and immediately started heading towards the greenhouse. “Stay safe, see you guys soon.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Violet’s plan actually went pretty well, mostly.

 

Lucky for her, Clementine already killed off most of the walkers at the greenhouse so Violet just needed to collect their heads before going to fetch Mitch’s fertilizer. However, she did have to quickly sneak back to the school to drop all her stuff at the gate before leaving again, since dragging a heavy bag of fertilizer with her all the way to the old shack would just slow her down.

 

After arriving at the shack, Violet managed to dig out Ms. Martin’s old books after a few moments of searching. Unfortunately, most of them were already devoured by heavy layers of mold that Violet was pretty sure could induce some serious lung diseases. She only managed to pick out one that wasn’t ruined completely – _Treasure Island_ , which surprisingly only had some mild warping and water damage. Well, at least it was better than nothing, right?

 

The way back to Ericson was quite uneventful, apart from having to dodge a few walkers from time to time. When the school finally came into sight, Violet knitted her brow together, noticing that almost everyone was out at the gate and it seemed like they were arguing about something. From a distance, Clementine looked really upset. The brunette was pacing back and forth, while waving her hands around frantically. It was a strange sight to see. Because in the entire time that Violet had known Clementine, she had never seen her look so… panicked.

 

Violet’s heart suddenly sank. _Shit, did something happen?_ She tucked the book inside her vest and immediately started running over to the group.

 

“Hey! What’s wrong? What happened?!” She called out when she was near, panting a little.

 

She searched Clementine’s eyes in concern when the brunette spun around at her voice in surprise, and she barely even had time to react when Clementine charged towards her and shoved her back, hard.

 

“Where THE HELL have you been, Violet?!” Clementine growled, stepping forward and shoved her again, eyes icy and piercing.

 

Violet was stunned. She stumbled back and struggled to find words while trying to keep her balance, absolutely having zero idea what was going on. After she finally steadied herself, she looked around with wide eyes, hoping someone would fill her in on what was happening, but somehow the rest of the group all decided to retreat to the school at that exact moment, leaving her alone with Clementine and apparently the brunette’s rage. “What? I… I was just—”

 

“You were just what?!” Clementine cut her off harshly. “Your stuff was all over the place. We thought you were taken! By the walkers or those fucking raiders!”

 

A pang of guilt immediately hit Violet’s chest, seeing the worry painted all over Clementine’s face and the tears glistening in those golden-brown orbs.

 

“I’m sorry.” Violet said quietly, bracing herself when she saw Clementine start to move towards her again. But instead of another rough shove on the shoulders, she was wrapped tightly in a pair of strong yet soft arms.

 

“I thought I lost you.” She heard Clementine whisper in her ear, the small quiver in the brunette’s voice making Violet’s heart palpitate uncontrollably inside her chest.

 

Almost instinctively, Violet brought up her arms and locked them around Clementine, pulling her even closer. “Hey, I’m here. It’s okay.” She reassured. “I’m okay, Clem.”

 

When she felt Clementine calm down a little, she pulled away from the hug just enough to reach inside her vest and take out the book, showing it to Clementine. “Here, I’m sorry… I was just trying to surprise you so I went down to the old shack to get this.” Violet paused and bit her lower lip. “Surprise.” She added lamely, already cringing inside at the awkwardness in her voice.

 

Clementine blinked and stared down at the book for a moment, before letting out a small chuckle in disbelief. She took the book and touched the worn-out cover gently. “Treasure Island?”

 

“Yeah, it was the only one that was still readable.” Violet nodded, lips curling upwards seeing Clementine carefully flip through the pages. “I thought you’d like it and you can read it with AJ too. Although I wouldn’t suggest putting it too close to your face. Seriously, the mold contamination at the shack is so bad and I think I may or may not have inhaled some of that weird fungus so…”

 

“God,” Clementine shook her head, laughing lightly at Violet’s nervous rambling. She closed the book and admired it for a second, before looking up to meet Violet’s forest green eyes. “You are such an idiot.”

 

“I know.” Violet grinned as Clementine pulled her back into the hug, a few strands of soft hair that fell loose from Clementine’s baseball cap tickling Violet’s nose and making her giggle a little.

 

“Thank you.” The smile in Clementine’s voice was so evident that it instantly sent a wave of warmth through Violet’s entire body. “But don’t you ever scare me like that again. You hear me?”

 

“Yeah. I promise.” Violet nodded against Clementine’s shoulder and squeezed her arms around the brunette a fraction tighter, melting into the hug.

 

 

* * *

 

 

In the blink of an eye, another week had flown by, still without any trace of the raiders.

 

People were starting to become more and more restless, while tension built to an almost dangerous level that Violet had to prepare to break up a fight amongst themselves at any time. It was exhausting, managing a group of angsty teenagers who were constantly on edge, especially when there wasn’t much for them to do or prepare anymore. And perhaps that was exactly the raiders’ tactics. To hold off until there was a crack from the inside so that they could just stride right in and break them without efforts.

 

Violet let out a small sigh, leaning back on her hands propped behind her. Going up the bell tower and checking the back walls every other day had become a habit of hers. Admittedly, it was probably a little unnecessary to check them this often, but it was something to keep her occupied. And she needed the quiet, even just for a little while.

 

Except this time, she wasn’t all alone up here like before. Clementine was with her. Although she figured Clementine probably only chose to come with her because checking the walls sure sounded a lot more responsible than Louis’ “piano duty”, she was still glad that they got to spend a little extra time together.

 

Violet stole a glance at the brunette sitting beside her, who was still staring up at the constellations that they just randomly made up, a ghost of a smile at the corner of her lips.

 

Unconsciously, Violet’s lips curled upwards as well. It was moments like this that Violet could almost forget the world around them. It felt like they were just two normal teenagers sitting up here, talking and laughing, without a care in the world. But sadly, reality always caught up in no time, brutally reminding her that all of it was just some pointless fantasy, making her heart ache more than she could bear.

 

“Hey, you okay?”

 

Clementine’s voice pulled Violet out of her thoughts and she shook her head. “Yeah… I just hate the waiting, you know? It’s starting to drive everyone crazy and I…” She looked down and picked at a loose string on her jeans. “I feel like I’m losing control as well. I’m completely in over my head and I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do, Clem. I don’t know how to protect everyone and I just suck at—”

 

“Hey, stop.” Clementine interrupted her softly. “You are a great leader, Vi. Don’t ever doubt that.”

 

Violet looked up at the brunette, eyes of honey and gold locking with hers with such intensity that made her heart start drumming loudly in her ears. Clementine didn’t usually call her “Vi”, but when she did, it always seemed to leave her with a thousand butterflies dancing wildly in her stomach.

 

“No, Clem.” Violet said, gazing back into those beautiful hazel orbs that sparkled under the starlight. “You are. You came back for us, kept us all together and protected us. We wouldn’t even know what to do if you weren’t here. I mean, I… I wouldn’t know what to do if you weren’t here.” She added in a whisper, looking away with slightly crimsoned cheeks.

 

To be honest, she didn’t mean to say that last part out loud. The words simply just slipped out. And now that Clementine had yet to respond to that, Violet started to panic. Shit, what if she just made things weird between them? She couldn't afford to lose her friendship with Clementine. She just couldn’t.

 

Violet swallowed, fumbling through her words and trying to apologize, but Clementine cut her off almost immediately.

 

“No Violet, it’s okay. I think… I mean, I hope… we’re more than friends, and…”

 

Violet couldn’t believe her ears. She blinked dumbfoundedly and watched Clementine chew on her lower lip nervously while fiddling with her fingers as if she was trying to make up her mind on something.

 

She waited patiently, her heart beginning to pound against her chest as if it was trying to hammer its way out. When Clementine’s gaze finally fell back on her again, the air between them shifted somehow, and Violet could’ve sworn that she saw Clementine’s eyes flick down to her lips for a split second. But then again, it was also possible that she was having a stroke right now and was imagining this whole thing.

 

Her brain was still in some sort of overdrive when Clementine became a blur of movement. And in the next second, warm lips pressed against her own that completely froze her on the spot.

 

It was a brief and delicate kiss, yet still felt perfect and electrifying in every way. Violet watched Clementine slowly pulling away from the kiss, hypnotised by the way those golden-brown eyes lingered on her lips for a second longer before snapping back up to meet her gaze.

 

It wasn’t until she took in a sharp gasp of air that she realised that she had been holding her breath all along.

 

“Holy shit.” Violet blurted out and immediately grimaced, glancing away in embarrassment. Seriously, she couldn’t believe that was the first thing she said after their first kiss.

 

“Well I mean…” She tried to find the right words to say, but apparently her brain had lost all functions for her to think clearly and all there was left was another, “Holy shit.”

 

She turned her head to look at Clementine when the brunette started laughing and couldn’t help but burst into a hearty laugh as well.

 

Neither of them said anything else after that, nor did they need to. Violet gazed at Clementine intently, wanting to remember everything about this moment; about Clementine. She wanted to remember the pretty lopsided smile that played on Clementine’s lips, the adorable way Clementine scrunched up her nose, the slight trembling of Clementine’s long eyelashes, and the golden fire in Clementine’s eyes that shone brighter than any stars in the entire universe.

 

Unconsciously, Violet leaned a little bit closer to the brunette. She lifted one of her hands, before placing it over Clementine’s, slowly and tentatively, and her heart almost soared into the sky when Clementine turned her hand over, lacing their fingers together.

 

Violet blinked and stared down at their intertwined hands, amazed at how comforting, how natural this felt; amazed at how perfectly her hand fit into Clementine’s and how she never wanted to let it go.

 

“Vi? Clem? You out here?”

 

Ruby’s voice suddenly broke into their peaceful bubble, making them both jump a little. Violet let go of Clementine’s hand reluctantly and moved forward to peer down at the school. “Shit-sticks.” She shook her head in frustration when she saw Ruby wandering around the yard, aimlessly searching for them.

 

“Well, guess it’s time for my lookout shift.” Clementine said, turning to look at Violet with a soft chuckle. “Ready to go?”

 

“Wait, just...” Violet reached out and grabbed Clementine’s hand to stop her from getting up. “Just… one more minute…” She trailed off and bit the corner of her bottom lip as she gazed into those shimmering hazel orbs, feeling almost dizzy from the wild exhilaration that fizzled in her heart.

 

Slowly, she started to lean forward, until her forehead rested against Clementine’s and their breaths mingled. She fluttered her eyes close, and brought up a hand to cup the brunette’s face, letting her thumb brush lightly across Clementine’s cheekbone for a lingering second, before closing the last remaining distance between them and capturing Clementine’s lips with her own again.

 

She breathed in sharply when she felt Clementine slide her fingers into her messy hair, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. She could feel Clementine’s mouth curl upwards into a grin and she couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, too. Then just like that, everything else simply disappeared. For the first time in forever, she managed to forget how shitty this world was. She managed to forget about the walkers creeping along their fence, the raiders that could attack at any minute, the weight of responsibility that pressed heavily on her chest, and the pains that she had been carrying for so long.

 

In that moment, the world merely fell away and it was just the two of them, kissing and smiling under the star-speckled sky, with nothing but the moonlight dancing over their skin, and the sound of their racing hearts.

 

 


End file.
